Blood of the Youkai
by FlyingAway
Summary: CH3UPThe story of the girl Kali, who overcomes the obstacles of the past to save those who are her friends and defeat those who plague her. An adventure story(long). Rating likely to go up later.Featuring Sesshoumaru &Co. InuYasha &Co.
1. In the Night

Chapter 1

In the Night

Author: Okay, this is my first ever fan-fiction. Please don't hurt me. I've only read up to 12 of the graphic novels, and some translated ones online. I'm sorry if characters OOC, but I hope to improve on this. Also, please forgive any misspellings and usage of the English words instead of the original Japanese terms. Also, this is an original character story, so I own all the characters but InuYasha, Sesshoumaru, Rin, Jaken, and Company. 

Sometime during the night, Kali woke up to barking. Actually, "woke up" was a bit too strong a term to use. It was more in a half asleep state that she rolled out of bed, cursed in her own language as she stubbed her foot into the baka Sanchi's toys, and closed the window. She looked out at the world, silent and misleading, but saw nothing. She stretched, catlike, and stumbled back to bed.

Earlier…**MUCH** earlier. Earlier than anyone in Kali's time was thinking about at that insane hour. But in a twisted backwards way, not much earlier than an hour ago. 

"Jaken!"

To anyone not familiar with the feudal era, the creature (which was only about two feet tall) being addressed was something that looked like an ungainly cross between a rumpled, used tissue, a toad, and an old man with an oversized head. "Er, yes, my Lord?" It said in a squeaky, nervous voice. Just like a rumpled, used tissue would sound, if you had the unfortunate experience of pressing your ear against one. 

"Where are we heading?" The Lord of the Western Lands looked down at the creature, an imposing sight indeed. His voice was soft, controlled, not unlike the quiet before a tornado ravages the countryside. 

The impish thing was at a lost. Usually, he just followed his lord around, not being the greatest of navigators. Sure, he would do something bold occasionally, shout insults at the little girl for example. He was a master at that, a true literate at harsh words. But navigating was not something he enjoyed. Jaken seemed to be rather hindered by the fact that he could not see over the closest bush. The best he could answer went something like this. "Er. Well Lord Sesshoumaru, we are…heading for camp. Yes, the girl Rin is too tired to carry on, and the night is beginning and this Jaken can set up a fire." He coughed, edged about two feet away from his masters narrowed stare, and gestured to the little girl.

She could not have been more than seven, perhaps a little bit over eight at most. Her hair was tied back awkwardly, and she was dressed in a pretty, if somewhat muddy, kimono. She stared at them both; brown eyes wide and (though she put up a good act trying to hide it) too tired to even talk (which she was usually very good about). 

Sesshoumaru considered the situation, his face blank and emotionless. There was no reason to rush home. True, he did not like the idea of another night out in the open, especially if Rin was traveling with them. There was the festival tomorrow, celebrating the beginning of spring. Somehow, passing through a village, she had overheard the peasants speaking of it. It was all she would ask him about, but she was too tired to badger him right now. For that, he was greatful. _You try to figure out why you don't leave her in a village, or just kill her, but you can't, can you Youkai? _He hated this argument, the cold way his thinking would always, always come to this subject. He was the Lord of the Western Lands, one of the most powerful youkai to grace the land of the rising sun, known far and wide by many names, part legend. And he was dragging around a totally useless human child. It was degrading, reminded him of his half brother and her wench. But at least InuYasha's wench had some use, had some way to defend herself! This child was, and he had no difficulty stating it in his head for the millionth time, useless. But he could not leave her. 

Sesshoumaru was not a youkai who could agree with being torn between a decision. As for as he could see, he could not, would not, function correctly with personal dilemmas ripping his soul (_If you have one youkai!_ He thought in a humorless way._)_ In pieces. In fact, up until recently he had been very good about shutting himself out, and had been content to do so.

"We'll rest here tonight. Jaken, set up a fire." He rested against a tree, long legs folded close to his body. 

"Yes, my Lord." Even from behind the growing flames, Jaken could tell his master was in a tense mood. Of course, he could have been worse. _Gods know I've seen him in fouler moods, but he has been acting strangely of late!_ Recently, he had not rested. Well, not completely. He closed his eyes, and his breathing slowed, but he was always aware. Many believed that Sesshoumaru constantly watched; the Waiting Dog was his name in the islands to the south. Jaken did not believe this, though he was worried over the restlessness of his master. In the toad creature's experience, it was usually a sign of something ill to occur. Once the flames were fully ablaze, and his masters eyes were half lidded and red from searching the fire, Jaken edged away muttering "G'night, Lord Sesshoumaru." As usual, he received no reply

The girl Rin, unafraid, moved to her accustomed spot in Sesshoumaru's lap where she promptly fell asleep. She never feared him, she believed he could do no wrong, and she thought he was the most powerful, greatest creature of the land. _But she does not fear me, naïve child. _He rested his head against the bark, breathed in the deep scent of sandalwood. Remembering that the weather was cold (not for him, of course), he wrapped his tail around Rin. 

The Rifter was abroad. The night spread before it in a way that no creature, animal, human, hanyou, or youkai would see it. It was a continuous story of light and dark, good and evil, told by the moon, illustrated by the stars, and forever repeated by the cycle of the sun. The creature spread patterns in the infinite amount of stars, moving bits of light with the most intense care. 

The Higher Ones had not stopped the Rifter from making the first split in time, and it assumed this was permission to go on with its plan. To Them, the Rifter was another tiny, insignificant fragment, as every other creature is. But occasionally, it would storm through and change. Not for good, nor evil, just for the Change. The drive that, in the Rifter's opinion, kept everything from being redundant. One action of the Rifter may keep a boy from scraping his knee. Another might kill off entire millennia of species brought about by the evolution the Rifter itself had made to occur. And another just might make a girl go back in time through a well.

Tonight it was going to do something new. 

The Rifter moved the blinks of light that represented people. It clustered them, moved the times they were in. It had no control over the minds of the people, nor there actions. That would take all the fun out of the Change. 

Once done, the Rifter loomed over the plan, pulled its non-existent breath in with a sharp hiss. This was going to be interesting, but the Rifter had no intention of watching it from an omnipotent viewpoint. No, it wanted to be in the action.

It grinned at the idea, and set the plan into motion.

Being pulled through time is not a pleasant experience. Especially if the vortex is made from simple air, without anything to confine it. A body feels the initial twisting of time, the ways the planes of space collide into each other. Colors swirl in dizzying patterns, the wind (where it comes from, no one can tell) whips you about, and all the while you can sometimes make out the voices of the past and future. But only if you listen closely. Time-travelers, though they are rare one can find them in abundance in modern insane asylums, call this the backlash theory. Others call it the moldy cheese theory. "Top quality moldy cheese, for sale!" Is one of those timeless phrases most often heard in the vortex of the past and the future.

But Rin heard none of this. She was too busy screaming. 

A moment ago she had been asleep, rather comftorbly curled up in Lord Sesshoumaru's tail. Next second she felt the pull, the tug, and the unmistakable _whoossshhh_ of time travel. Not that she knew she was going forward in time. One would assume she thought it was a freak tornado. 

Rin thought it was a huge, monstrous, bug-eyed, demon that was quickly digesting her in a unique manner.

Such thoughts are not unusual, considering she had been living with a Youkai lord for quite some time.

"SESSHOUMARU-SAMA!" She screamed, repeatedly, confidant that he would never fail to find her.

Lord Sesshoumaru, meanwhile, was going about being sucked through time in his own manner. He twisted, turned, bit, clawed the wind, spread some vaporous fumes, only to make himself sick and worn out. "RIN!" He called, trying to find the little human. It was hopeless, though he kept clawing, gnashing and roaring with youkai-fury. He tried to change to his true form, and it worked; though this did not help the situation. 

__

You know, your only making this harder! 

Sesshoumaru winced at the voice, it echoed in his mind and around him. "Who the hell are you and what have you done with Rin?!?!" He demanded angrily, eyes gleaming with blood and malice.

__

You don't need to know. Damn, you'll make a mess in this time. Will have to do something about that. 

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN? I, SESSHOUMARU, WILL BRING YOU SWIFTLY TO YOUR DEATH! WHERE IS RIN?" He roared. Then blackness hit him.

__

Youkai…always so damn arrogant!

As for Jaken, he did something very, very unnecessary. Never, ever, sneeze, cough, and belch at the same time while in a time vortex. For the next couple of centuries, he became a blip in the sky, orbiting somewhere in the vicinity of Venus. 

Kali woke up not much later, to find a strange little girl sitting on her bed, sobbing. _I'm dreaming, another damned nightmare. _The child looked vaguely familiar, and Kali struggled to place her in the large index catalogue of her dreams. In all the dreams she could talk, she could scream, she could sing, but no one ever heard her. The oddly dressed people ignored her. 

Not much different from real life.

But it felt different. None of the dreams had occurred in her room, nor did they happen with only one of the dream-people. She considered rolling over, ignoring the apparition until she woke up. But on a hunch, she did not stuff her pillow over her head. "Why are you crying?" Her voice came easily from her, and in the dreams she always sounded soft and delicate, but now she sounded real, with emotion, uneven from lack of sleep. _No more three day old sushi…_

The little girl looked up, first shocked and afraid. Kali wondered how imposing she looked, a rumpled looking girl with fraying reddish brown hair and odd eyes. Too many, Kali was small for her age of fifteen, or maybe it was because she hid so often, that no one ever got a chance to look at her properly. 

"I lost Sesshoumaru-sama." She said simply, wrapping her arms around her knees. 

"Oh." The name meant nothing to her; it sounded odd and foreign. Who or what a "Sesshoumaru" was, she could not tell. _Better make the best of this dream. Who knows, maybe I am losing my mind. Sanchi could get her room back then. _"What does this Sesshoumaru look like?" She said in a friendly soft tone.

"He has stripes," the girl said. As an afterthought she added, "and gold eyes and a big fluffy tail." 

__

She has lost her dog then or perhaps a cat? "I'm sure I could help you find him, but where did you come from?"

"Oh," she said innocently. "I came up the weird stairs, and through the window." She pointed to the window, where the simple curtains fluttered in the wind. 

Kali was aware her mouth was open and her eyes almost as wide as the little girl's was. "I closed the window…"she mumbled, and the stairs the girl meant, what were those? Her eyes widened when she walked up to the window, looking at the box where the emergency fire escape ladder was. The box was empty; the ladder was hooked on her windowsill, its foldable plastic rungs gleaming in the moonlight. _A little girl climbed my ladder, which I did not hang, climbed the window that I closed. …_She looked at the clock_…. An hour ago. Just stay away from the sushi all together, Kali. If this weren't a dream, or one hell of a hallucination, I'd be screaming my head off. _Oddly enough, she felt calm. 

"Are you mad?" The little girl said creeping off the bed to stand by her. 

"No, of course not." Kali replied her voice blank. Why would she be mad? The girl was just an apparition; no way the family downstairs would be able to creep into this bizarre dream. "But why did you come here."

The girl looked confused, then shrugged. "The monster dropped me outside," she pointed to the street. "And the stairs were down and the window was open. It looked safer than out there." She proceeded to look around the room in a curious manner, staring at the furniture with large chocolate colored eyes.

"Oh." _What monster?_ _And how in hell did the window open. Oh. It's a dream. Have to remember that. _Kali had lived (or slept, to be more precise) through dreams that felt so real, she was sure everyone did. The girl was currently poking around a large makeshift shelf full of books of the oddest sort, mainly interpreting dreams and other odd things (old tales, used dictionaries, used journals found in the back of second hand book shops). Many restless nights were spent trying to interpret the dreams, which only made Kali more confused. 

The girl nodded enthusiastically in reply to her 'Oh'.

"_This_ is one weird dream."

"Do you think you are dreaming?" The girl asked curiously, maybe if she was dreaming too, she would wake up and be safe again.

Kali looked down at the little girl in her kimono. "I'm pretty sure I'm dreaming. I can't talk when I'm awake, and plus, I think I've seen you in other dreams before. Or maybe not, but this is the first time I've ever had a conversation with somebody." The realization of that hit her, even if this was a dream; it was still the first time she had ever talked with someone. 

"Oh, I could not talk once." The girl said simply. "Will you really help me find Sesshoumaru-sama? If this is not a dream?" The girl suddenly burst into a smile that could have split her face, and bounced excitedly on her feet. "Pllleeeaasseee?"

"Sure, kid. If it isn't a dream." She grinned down, feeling absolutely out of her mind. _Move to the funny farm, Kali. _"What is your name by the way? I'm Kali." It was a nickname everyone called her, and she knew that somewhere on her birth certificate it said otherwise (though it was something close), but she could not remember it. The old, mean tempered grandfather said it was the name of a destructive something from another country's mythology. 

"I'm Rin." 

_Maybe, _Kali thought,_ she isn't a dream. Maybe a little girl really did wander into my room, maybe I am speaking, and I accidentally slept walk to the window and opened it. And then put down the fire escape ladder. _It sounded insane to Kali, considering she did not sleepwalk. However, it had been a bad week, and she was so used to sneaking out, what if she had tried to in her sleep? It still sounded ridiculous, but possible._ But what about her clothes?_ They were odd, old fashioned, like the kimono she had seen in the weeklong festival that would start tomorrow. Like the one she would wear, being one of the hundred odd people who would work in stands and walk around, explaining or acting out what life was like in the feudal ages. Of course, she would be a background actor. But still. _Maybe she was getting ready. It does start at dawn. _"Are you going to the festival tomorrow?"

The girl almost lit up from the inside, bouncing with joy. "Yes! I wanted to go with Sesshoumaru-sama, I had told him about it!" 

Kali was unsure whether this "Sesshoumaru" was a person, animal, or some imaginary friend from the girl's imagination. _Huh, like I should talk about imagination! _"Oh, then we may see him there. We have to leave soon though," she gestured to the kimono on the worn desk. "And I have to get ready." She read the clock, 5:10 am, which would give her in hour to catch the bus to the city. Kali flicked on the lights, not concerned about waking the other occupants of the house. She was after all, at the very top, and would sneak out with Rin later and sneak back into the house at night. They hardly noticed her any ways. It would be simple, she'd be paid, and no one would know.

Ever since the room had been flooded with light, the little girl was staring at her, in awe. "Uh, is something wrong?"

"Are you a youkai?" the child asked in a soft whispery voice. Never before had she seen a human control light. "I've never seen anyone with your kind of hair and eyes, so you must be!"

"A what?" _Yeah, I know I look odd. But it's no reason to call me names about it._ Once, her "false"(she refused to call them foster) parents had told her the reddish brown hair had come from her mother, as did the hazel eyes. Her father had been, as far as she could guess from the shape of her face, her pale skin, and the other features she knew she shared with the rest of Japan, had been Japanese. "I'm a half-breed if that's what you mean, but it isn't that uncommon, not anymore at least. My dad had dark hair, my mom had this color hair, and her eyes were this color too, I'm a mix of both." She stared at the girl's ignorance to this. She knew many other people who were mixtures of cultures, in the city, no one took real notice of it.

"So you're a hanyou? A real half-breed?" Rin asked in wonder. 

"Yes." _Look up the word 'youkai' and 'hanyou' later. Could've sworn I've heard those words before! _Kali made a note to check through all her books, including the journals. She began putting the kimono on, first slipping on a pair of faded jeans to match the T-shirt she slept in. After that, she slipped the light blue tunic like affair over her regular clothes. It reached down past her ankles, leaving behind a little train. The sleeves too were long, and for a moment, she swished them around to make little circles in the air. 

"Put on the rest, I want to see what an adult kimono looks like!" Said Rin, who was again sitting on the bed, her feet kicking about above the dirty rug.

"Alright," she had never tried the kimono on, the festival had given it to her with a little note saying where she could find her station, and the part she would be acting out. She held the fine material in her arms and wrapped it around her body, the way the instructions with the note said she should. Next came the obi, the long sash that she tied the affair together with. She liked the way it felt, but absolutely refused to see how she looked until she was done. Next came the slippers, soft and comftorble. _I wonder how I'm going to get down the ladder. _Of course, she'd bring her knapsack, in which she had put a pair of sneakers, and an outfit of normal clothes. She took a brush, and began to comb out the tangles in her auburn hair, parting it perfectly down the middle so it reached past her shoulders. "Okay, no makeup. That's good. My face gets all itchy." She turned around to the cracked full-length mirror she had found in the pile of junk in the attic adjacent to her room. 

Kali hardly recognized herself. The over kimono was dark green, stiched with lighter green around the hems of her sleeve and neckline. It swished about her, a landscape of flowing willow trees and windswept leaves forming a pattern on the bottom half. Her obi was of a golden color, and it trailed behind her, simply moving with every step she took. The kimono itself was comftorble, which she had not expected. It did not feel awkward at all! She did a practice leap in her small room, taking wide steps, and then tiny steps, amazed that she could move freely. She laughed at the bewildered expression on Rin's face.

"What do you think?" Kali said, grinning wickedly. "I could be the daughter of some very rich noble if I wanted to be."

"It's beautiful!" Rin commented. "You could be a great lady!" 

"Thanks," Kali picked up her pack, doing a final check for everything before swinging it over her shoulders "We'll have to go down the ladder, those stairs by the window. Try not to make any noise." She put a finger to her own lips, making a _shushing_ noise.

"Okay," Rin replied, nearly jumping about with excitement. She climbed down, with Kali watching her anxiously. It was about 30 feet up, and she valued the bravery of the energetic girl. She hopped the last two rungs, and grinned up at Kali, waving from the ground.

"My turn." She swung her legs over the windowsill, and grabbed the top of the ladder, easing herself down slowly. In one hand, she held the kimono so it would not drag, and each step was slow and deliberate. When she reached the ground, she breathed a sigh of relief before turning toward Rin. "Okay, now we go to the city, but we have to go to the bus stop first."

The girl looked at her, and nodded. However, there was confusion in her eyes as she asked, "What's a bus?" 

"You have never been on a bus?" This was only getting more interesting. 

Author: Wow that really was quite horrible, Please forgive me, I will try to get better at this. If someone could tell me where I could find some extensive information on the demons in this story, Sesshoumaru, Rin, and things besides the general plot of InuYasha, I'd greatly appreciate the background info. As always with me, I enjoy constructive criticism. Please don't tell me I do not give enough information about my original character, I prefer to hand it out in small bits when it becomes concerned with the story. Oh well, hope you guys don't dislike long chapters, :) 

Next Chapter: Sesshoumaru has a discussion with the Rifter. Kali and Rin go to the fair. And Jaken moves at two light-years a minute around the galaxy. Continuing adventure for all!


	2. Chapter 2: The Fallen and the Fair

Author's note: I own none of the characters but my own original characters, which are so far, Kali. Please, review. But hey, my sister said no one would review, but I got one review! Yes! Aha, yet again my sister is **wrong.**

Chapter 2: The Fallen and the Fair

Lord Sesshoumaru fell through wind and fire, earth and water, unconscious. The world passed him by in glimmers of memories, from both his time and beyond. He passed through the stories of the great ones who were long ago real, but now legend. He fell on through the future of his own kind, nearly forgotten in centuries to come. Such are the path of the great heroes, enemies, and personas of the past; doomed to be naught but myths told by the fireside. 

His great body, after what was seconds or eternity, fell into darkness. The only real light came from the radiance of his gleaming fur. It was soon joined by the red gleam of his eyes, wide and searching. Sesshoumaru did not know where he was, who had brought him, or where Rin was. The little girl was constant in his mind, setting off anger at the creature that stole her, and frustration at himself for even caring. In this darkness, there was no way to tell how fast he was falling, how long his body had been moving, and if he would remain like this to the very end of everything. He could not move, some unseen force paralyzed his body, and his tail dragged above him as he watched it trailing from a position where his back was downwards. _If there is a downward at all._

He did not know how, but Sesshoumaru came to the realization that he was falling slower, rapidly decreasing in pace. With a sudden jerk, the youkai broke free of his frozen body.

Sesshoumaru watched his true form fall into the abyss, until even his eyes could not see it. And he was alone, without a body. Pure spirit, the youkai realized, as he tried to find the rest of himself, but seeing nothing and feeling nothing but an uncanny loss for the physical world. He had always believed that death would be something like this, fitting his personality just to become nothing, no reincarnation, no hell, and no heaven. Just consciousness. 

He was everywhere and everything, though there was nothing to be felt. No sun filtering through the leaves of his forests, no scent of river, bark, or grass, no reassuring soil beneath his paws. He wanted to be alive. The craving was more instinct than intelligent thought as he lifted back his non-existent head and let out a silent mournful howl.

And he realized, that (though it was impossible in his new state), he had stopped falling.

There was a voice, as soft and silent as Sesshoumaru's cry, but the youkai heard it nonetheless and listened intently to the thing that had brought him here.

_About time, you cried out. I thought it would be hard for you, and I was right. I needed you in this state to communicate with you. But look Youkai! What do you see?_

_I see nothing. _He replied. _Nothing at all._ It surprised Sesshoumaru greatly that he was not attempting to rip this "thing" apart, he supposed that his calm, careless persona had returned with the absence of his toxic claws and fangs.

_LOOK CLOSER, LORD OF THE WESTERN LANDS, FOR ONE WHO IS OLD BY THE STANDERDS OF YOUR WORLD, YOU FAIL TO SEE WHAT IS MOST IMPORTANT! _The voice was neither angry, nor demanding; just powerful enough that Lord Sesshoumaru was forced to focus.

He saw everything. Not so much in a sense that human, youkai, hanyou, and other creatures see, but in the way the Rifter saw it. The beauty was not wasted on Sesshoumaru; there had always been something alluring about the night sky for him. He saw the stars, oh the exquisite fragile beauty they held! They were not the balls of glowing that humans in the future would see with their telescopes, but something more. The stars themselves were hard to define, at best Sesshoumaru thought they were like the gleaming of stars he had seen from his home, but larger. They were in constant movement, slow, but not deliberate. Little orbs of the most fantastic colors, shimmering blues, and greens, subtle whites and pinks, iridescent like the scales of fish, or feathery and soft like his now gone fur. The stars (for he was certain that was what they were) moved in a random pattern, forming ribbons of glowing light. It was greater than an aurora, though even in his far travels, Sesshoumaru had never witnessed one. He longed for a body, to pull one of those immortal lights from their river, and give it to Rin. _Though, I will never see her again._

There was yet again silence, for what felt like eternity and more.

_You are not dead Youkai. I merely needed to show you this._

_Who are you? _Several thoughts filtered in his being, all, which the Rifter could see.

_No, I am not one of the higher beings, I am a creature, like you, but very, very different. _

Why did you bring me here? 

To tell you of your path.

Sesshoumaru felt something of his famous anger blare up, _I, Sesshoumaru, choose my own path!_

This is not something you can help! You can choose to ignore it, though I do not know what will come of it. For that matter, I do not know what will happen if you do follow what is at your feet! But you will know of it Sesshoumaru, that I will make sure of! 

For a long time, Sesshoumaru was quiet. He mulled this over in his thoughts, knowing that even this knowledge would probably be consequential for him to know. _I am Sesshoumaru, I fear no path._

The human Rin is safe.

The Rifter received no reply, and purposely chose to block the youkai's thoughts about this.

_You are heading for a new time, Sesshoumaru. It is the same one your half-brother's companion, the Shikon Shard detector, lives in. You shall be there for a short time. _However, Sesshoumaru did not know how "short" was thought as by something infinently old. 

_Why?_ The Lord of the Western Lands had no desire to go to Inu Yasha's wench's time. 

_I have already set you on the path; to tell you why would be directing you. That is something I can not do. _To do that would be to influence, which was against the Change. It had to be natural, it had to be based on what the followers of the paths chose to do. 

_Leave me to go now, so I can get this done quickly._

You can never finish your path, not before your final death. 

Lord Sesshoumaru growled inwardly at this, wanting to question what a "final" death meant. Suddenly, he felt the tug, as he began to fall again, back into time. He looked up at the stars, and with a mental hand he reached up and felt an icy blue one. It shimmered softly, feeling both cold and warm to his mind. A smaller, pinkish one, warm and feathery accompanied it. _Rin,_ he thought, able to recognize her in no matter what the form. The stars, were more than they seemed. He wondered where he was in that glittering sky, wondering if he was even granted a light. As much as he could, he clenched the two stars, willing them to guide him.

_I am giving you a gift Sesshoumaru, to aid you. It is not a major benefit, nothing too truly….affect…well…maybe not…but it will aid you._

Sesshoumaru looked for the voice, his mental self still clutching the blue and pink stars. He began to fall faster, still finding no source.

_Sesshoumaru,_ the voice said softly. _There is one who will help you, this creature is essential. IT MUST NOT BE DESTROYED. It is your way back home._

The Rifter saw him fall, unsure if he had heard its last comment.

Rin was busy picking the flowers around the bus stop, as Kali watched her in the predawn gloom. Everything was a haze of grays and purples. Far off, the skyscrapers of her city looked like the great trees that had once dominated this area. Kali leaned back, closing her eyes.

The little girl in front of her was teaming with curiosity. She wanted to know everything. What was this strange place? Surely, Sesshoumaru-sama would know why there were the long stretches of dark stone, flat and smooth as glass. Rin had taken notice of them, for they were sitting by one right now. She wanted to know where the trees had gone too, why the homes were so oddly shaped, and where the animals had hidden. Indeed, the wind monster had dropped her off in a strange and distant place. For now though, she was content to pick the dainty purple flowers growing by the continuous gray stone.

"Why are we going to take a moving box on wheels to the city?" Rin asked, trying her best to imagine what Kali had explained to her as a bus. 

_She must be from a rural fishing village, though they are getting rare these days. _Kali had thought, trying to rationalize the girl. _And the "monster" might have been a train, or a ship, or something coming to bring her family to the festival. She is pretty young, and might not have seen the outside world before. _Kali had studied about these villages before, the last remaining shreds of the ancient world that was quickly being forced to become modern. _With luck, I'll help her find this thing, or her family that she's looking for. _"Because it is to far to walk," she replied in a tired voice. "And I'd be late." Kali was too tired to speak, and she looked over to the city with heavy eyes. 

Something was coming up the road, _the bus,_ Kali thought. She got up and Rin took her hand, looking somewhat scared at the steel behemoth that was approaching. "Rin, that's a bus. It will take us to the city, just make sure you are very quiet, we don't want to disturb anyone."

The girl nodded her eyes very wide.

With a sharp hiss, the bus stopped in front of them and lowered itself. The doors opened revealing a man who looked as if he had accidentally forgotten to drink his coffee. From a sleepless night, Kali too was beginning to look similar. She deposited the bus fare into the machine, when the man seemed to click awake at the sound of the change. 

"Only needed to put in half of that," he eyed her costume. "Going to the fare, right?"

_Discount for children her age, forgot about it. _She nodded, and took a seat in the back with Rin. 

The bus was totally vacant, and Rin had a full view of the inside of what she thought was more of the decorated insides of a monster than anything else was. Incredibly realistic paintings of what seemed to be men and women in weird clothes holding up items were on the sides. She bounced for a moment on the uncomftorble hard vinyl seats and felt the cold arm rests with her tiny hands. Rin kept quiet as she saw Kali lean her head against a window and half close her eyes. 

_There was something falling towards her. She stood on the edge of something, but could not look down, could not even feel the ground beneath her feet. But she heard the sound of something fluttering, something that felt massive in her mind. In a flash of white and fire red, she saw the thing fall past her, its eyes gleaming with something like curiosity. She followed it, not sure of her body and reached out a hand, extending her fingers--_

"Miss, this is your stop!" A crackling electronic voice jolted Kali awake, and she was aware of the man talking on the intercom. She also noted that Rin's hands were attached to her arm, clamping harder then steel. The child's brown eyes were wide and afraid. "It's just a microphone, helps his voice to become louder." She whispered quietly as she gathered her things, the child still attached to her arm. "Thank you, sir." Kali said quietly to the man, not looking to see if he had heard, edging off with the bus with Rin. The doors shut behind her, with a hiss that made Rin jump and hide behind her. As the car drove off, Kali looked down at Rin. "See, you should not be afraid of a bus." Kali said in a mock superior tone. 

"Rin is…not afraid." The girl mumbled. 

"Look up Rin, I don't think you've ever seen a city before!" Kali said, almost laughing at the girl's brave front. _Bold for a little kid._

As Rin looked from the sidewalk to the scenery spreading before her, she indeed had her first glance at a city. Too her eyes, it was all gleaming and beautiful, reflecting the morning reds and oranges. Like any child who encounters a city, her eyes wandered up the towering skyscrapers, giant boxes that reached the sky, some topped with spikes or domes, gleaming with glass or silvery light. She saw people. Oh so many people! All walking around in weird clothes, talking, eating from odd little food stands, going into the large boxes, and generally running around at a fast pace. Rin saw more of the long gray pathways, which were busy with more of those "busses" she had been in. They were all different shapes, sizes and colors and they kept making weird growls and barking noises at each other. 

Kali had already begun to walk towards the park, unimpressed by the sight she had seen many times. Rin ran up to her, afraid to be left behind in this new environment and firmly clamped to her arm again. As she (Kali) walked, she explained to Rin that the city would get more crowded later, and that it would be very bad if she were to wander off on her own. The girl nodded visibly, her little ponytail quivering. The few people that they did pass generally ignored them, which after years of being unnoticed did not bother Kali. Yet, she longed to try out her voice on someone. _Maybe Sanchi when I get back home? Call her a baka to her face! No, to long to wait. _She smirked wildly as they entered the park. She would find her chance soon.

The park itself was familiar to Rin. There were the small types of homes she had grown in as a very young child settled on the hills of finely cut grass. Pens were standing, holding chickens, cows, and pigs all squabbling or mooing at each other in a random melody of jeering noises. They stopped walking as a noble crossed their path, seated on a beautiful horse with armor just like himself. Kali led her through rows of teaming stalls, held up by poles and fabric where the shopkeepers were setting up their fare to sell for the oncoming crowds. _Probably looks nothing like what it did ages ago, _thought Kali. 

As Rin watched in eased awe, Kali wondered where the actor's stations were, following a crudely drawn map. Her station was close by, but her eyes could not follow the badly drawn lines of ink on her scrap. She turned to a station, where an old woman was beginning to act out the part of a noisy merchant.

"Excuse me, ma'am, but do you know where the actor's station is?" Kali asked kindly as Rin tried to look at the things on the shelf.

"Eh? I can't hear you darling, my ears are a little bit deaf." The woman leaned over, rubbing her weathered ears.

"I said, 'do you know where the-" Suddenly, her throat seemed to seize up, frozen. _What the hell!?!? _Then something familiar happened, she felt the pain. It happened in the past, when she had been young enough to think her voice would come if she tried. It ripped her throat in half, a searing fire that burned from the back of her mouth through her whole body. She felt herself wave, and had to grab onto the shelf to hold herself up as her body was racked with a fit of hoarse coughs that only made her double over in pain. _What's going on? Why can't I speak?_ Rin was sitting besides her, in shock at what had happened. 

"Oh, dear! Someone get the girl a glass of water," the woman managed to produce a bottle herself from her bags and handed it to Kali. "Nasty business, those winter coughs, eh?" However, Kali was unaware of her, as an awful realization hit her. 

_I'm still a mute._ The world crumbled around her, somewhat like a brick wall crashing over her body. She felt herself ripping at the edges as the world blurred around her, _and to top it all off, I've officially lost my mind. _The final brick fell on her. _Rin doesn't exist. The busman did not see her, nor did this old woman! I am completely out of my mind…_

Kali got up suddenly, not looking back at the questioning woman. She just wanted to keep moving; though her feet dragged from the added weight of her realization. Somewhere, a little voice was calling her, and she tried to ignore it, trying to impose on her mind that it was not there. 

"Kali-chan! Don't leave me here!" There was a weight on her arm again, as Rin looked at her with deep concern. _Of course, I made her up, what kind of child would trust a stranger so much? _

"Rin, you're not real." She replied in a blank voice. It was odd, she heard her voice. No coughing, but no one around her acted as if they heard. It was like thinking in a way. A person hears their voice inside their minds, but they know that no one else could follow it.

The child looked up with confusion in her eyes. After a second or two, she shook her head. "No, Rin thinks this is not a dream!" She took of one of her hands, and pinched her own arm and winced slightly. "See? Rin goes 'ow!' but does not wake!"

"No." Kali said, staring blankly ahead. She continued in that same grim voice. "My mind made you up Rin, now leave."

The girl did not leave, but clung to Kali's arm even harder. A bold spark came to her eyes, just the same look that would come before a child demands for a toy. "Rin is not made up! Rin _is_ Rin! You will see when you see Sesshoumaru-sama!" 

"I'll probably make him up too."

"How can Kali make up something she before?" The girl looked up at her, giving her own version of the sad child face as tears threatened to leak from her eyes. "Please don't leave me here, it is very scary and you promised to help me find Sesshoumaru-sama!"

Kali considered her with darkened eyes as she rolled this thought in her head. She had no idea why, but it was impossible to just say no to this imaginary girl. Even if she did not exist. _The quicker I can do what she wants, and I can't believe I'd give in to the demands of an imaginary girl, the quick she'll let me get back to my silent life. Though, I will miss it! Better than being a schizo, though. _"Somehow, I doubt you would leave me! Fine Rin, stay with me if you want." She tried to sound bitter, but it was incredibly hard and her untrained voice cracked. "Okay, it hurt like hell when I coughed back there, so this obviously isn't a dream. And," she said. "I cannot break my first promise." That statement felt cold and final as it left her stubborn mouth. 

Rin could hardly contain herself; she jumped and leaped about like a demented rabbit. "Rin and Kali-chan will find Sesshoumaru-sama, and Rin will be very happy to see him!" 

"Yeah, yeah, I know. Find Sesshoumaru-sama, and then you can cling to _him._" She said in a grumpy, yet kind voice to the girl before she started walking ahead to what seemed to be her station. 

Lord Sesshoumaru was not entirely sure how it was possible, but he landed softly on his feet in his non-demon form in the mock feudal age fair at the park. Before, he could register what that _thing_ he had met had told him or where in hell he was; a human walked through the youkai. 

On a reaction born from a long-standing hatred for humans, he immediately felt his claws grow painfully sharp as he proceeded to try to slash the human in half. 

However, the dratted thing remained neatly whole and unharmed. For that matter, it didn't even look at the great youkai lord. It was then that sense came to Sesshoumaru, and for the first time in a very long time, his mind went completely blank with confusion.

_Did a human just WALK THROUGH ME?_

__

His first emotion was anger at being violated in such a way by a lowly human, the second was frustration at (for the first time it seemed) a creature not feeling his claws when he, Sesshoumaru the great youkai, wished them too. "WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME! COME AND BATTLE, AND DIE BRAVELY, NOT AS A COWARD WHEN I HUNT YOU DOWN!" He was nearly in his true form, looking for the creature that did this to him. So great was his wrath that, if not for the tiny obstacle of not existing to anyone, he would have massacred this whole weak village of humans. He took no notice of the disgusting reek of so many humans, nor of the city around him. After several moments of raging, his calm state returned. He remembered, Rin was safe. All he had to do was find her, and then…get back home…if it was possible. He blankly remembered the creature shouting down at him about another creature being able to assist him back home, but the details of what this thing may be he could not recall.

_Find Rin first. Figure out this strange place later. _He focused his mind then, as his lifted his nose and sniffed gently. A thousand unknown things hit his olfactory senses, but he knew the one scent he needed. Like a dog, he could sift through a million different details to find the one thing he needed. There it was! A scent of lilac and grass after rain, Rin's scent! Since there was no scent of blood, she assumed the human child was unharmed. He moved as a blur, turning haphazardly as he neared her. 

Sesshoumaru paused before entering, what seemed to be a peasant's hut. He glared at the simple structure, something unusual catching his eye. There were two lights coming from within, one pink, and the other blue. _A gift, it said. To see a person's aura?_ He said, as he realized easily what they were. It was not unheard of to meet youkai who could see the aura of things, but Sesshoumaru could only see two of them, and very dimly (if he loosened his gaze, they would fade away). One of them he was sure was Rin, as her scent was the strongest in this human shelter. He walked up the door, first feeling it with his claws, curious to know why the soft war felt real in his talons, but not the human. There were many things he needed to figure out later. The youkai drew back his talons, intent to rip the away clean.

For the last two hours, Kali had been patiently waiting for a tourist. _Well, they wouldn't put me in one of the huts up front. And this person had really left out a lot on the instructions, _Kali thought grimly as she smoothed the rumpled paper that clearly expressed for her to 'stay firmly at her post' and nothing else. She watched Rin trying to fold some paper Kali had fetched from pack into decorative flowers. The last few hours had been a barrage of questions about their surroundings, like what the buildings were made of, how the cars worked, and a million other things. For the first few questions, Kali had unsuccessfully tried to answer, but after a while it grew pointless. As a way to keep the child busy, she had tried to show her how she could make things out of paper. What Rin was doing was turning Kali's paper into rumpled paper. But it kept the girl quiet. _Its not like I'm hoping for a whole group to come in, just one curious person, that would be good._

She had not expected the door to melt away. 

As Sesshoumaru entered, he noticed two things. First, Rin was safe and unharmed. Second, a human promptly jumped up and gleamed with a tiny blue sheen around her. She stared at him, eyes wide with fear; she was the first human that had noticed him so far. Moving swifter than a human could track, he lunged.

Kali found herself being held up by a very tight grip around her throat as she was slammed against the wall. Her back was wracked with pain, as was her throat as she tried to look at what was slowly suffocating her. All she could notice was a face, already growing blurry from her quickly fading vision, but very cold. She noticed, of all things, a pair of stripes on each cheek, and her last thought before receding into the darkness was, _so this is Rin's Sesshoumaru._

Author: Okay. Not too good, no real humor, but I think I am learning. In the next chapter, introductions all around. Hostility between Kali and Sesshoumaru, and how a youkai lord reacts to the modern world. A bit more on just why Rin and Sesshoumaru are there, and why Kali is so far the only on to take notice of them. OH and check back to see if this fic becomes illustrated. 

__


	3. Encounter

Author: WOW! This took such a long time to write. I'm sorry, but school has been absolute hell! Well, this is more of a transition chapter then anything else; plot begins to emerge, but not by much. OH and I'm looking to try to illustrate this. I'll actually do art trades with anyone from here if they do some work for me, just review with your email.

Disclaimer: I own all characters but the ones from the Manga (Sesshoumaru, Rin, Inu Yasha, Naraku, Miroku, etc. You know what I mean.) Don't sue me. Please.

All I have is a dollar for lunch. 

Blood of the Youkai

Chapter 3: Encounter

"Sesshoumaru-sama," Rin cried out, torn between relief at seeing him and horror at how he was still mid-strangle at an already unconscious Kali. "Stop Seshoumaru-sama! Kali-chan is good! She has watched over Rin."

Lord Sesshoumaru glanced over to Rin, his grip slackening a little, but still holding the girl up. He could smell life in her pathetic body. _So, she has watched Rin and she is the only human who has noticed my presence. Damn. _With a resigned sort of gesture, he dropped the girl who simply slumped down to the floor in a rumpled mess. She lay still on her side, breathing softly. Completely ignoring the stranger, Sesshoumaru turned to Rin who immediately ran to him and clung to him. He stared down at her, once again caught in the same midst of confusion that had plagued him the night before. "Rin," he said quietly, his voice both soft and hard at the same time.

"Sesshoumaru-sama?" Rin asked, looking up at him with wide eyes that spoke of innocence and, though the youkai could not recognize it, love. 

"You came to no harm here?" 

"No, Sesshoumaru-sama. Rin found Kali-chan who thought she was dreaming, who promised to help her find Sesshoumaru-sama. Kali is good, but very strange." She sat down; the exhaustion from the previous night and today having finally caught up with the child. She struggled to keep awake, but in the end failed as she leaned against Kali's pack and fell asleep.

_Weak little child…_He turned from Rin, to face who he assumed was Kali. With no doubt in his mind, Sesshoumaru could tell she was human. But she was strange. He remembered her eyes as he held her in his grip, wide and scared, an odd mix of green and gray he had never seen in a human before. She had hair that was even stranger, almost outrageous to Sesshoumaru, for such a color he had never seen on a human. It was almost the same color as most kitsune youkai, but with a little more brown to it. Now, its length caused it to lie as a hood around her face, reaching down to where her arms were awkwardly placed in front of her. A small trickle of blood was cascading down her thin throat from where his talons had grazed her skin, a scent that invited him to kill. All in all, she was a pale wraith of a human that was not a child, but not an adult either. Simple prey; yet he could hold back.

Kali would have been very scared if she knew that the only reason she was not lying in pieces was the curiosity of a youkai lord. 

He sat there, thinking about their situation. _This human, this human…is the thing that is supposed to help me! Help me to do what._ Sesshoumaru was not interested in being here; he was already tired of this place with its all too human scent. He wanted to speak to his own kind, demand in explanation, and return home. It surprised him that he could not smell the scent of the youkai lords of this land, almost disturbed him in a manner that was very unnerving. _I will eventually find them_, he mused. _And demand why they allow humans to walk through youkai. _This alone shook his very thoughts, leaving him to do the worse thing any youkai could do- doubt his own strength. 

Puzzled, and something else he could not define, the youkai lord sat amongst the two silent girls thinking about his position.

His curiosity only peeked more when he found the unconscious girl flicker out of sight. 

_Oh hell, what the fuck was that? _Thought Kali bitterly as she sat up. She could hardly open her eyes, the pain racked through her entire body, worse than anything she had ever felt did. Worse though, Kali could not remember why she was in so much pain. She knew that she had been at the fair and was certain at odds with her sanity because a little girl could hear her when clearly she was still silent. Needless to say, this bothered Kali a lot. In fact, she remembered blithely that she thought Rin was going to leave once they found-

_Sesshoumaru!_ She jolted back, opening her eyes, half-screaming from the light. Wild thoughts of claws and stripes ran through her mind, of a deadly cold grip and the darkness that came after. Yet something was not right, for one thing, it had been rather dim in the cabin. Gingerly, she moved her hands away from her face, for she had assumed a totally useless protective position and looked out at her surroundings.

There was no sign of the park, or the people. Just trees, hundreds of them, as far as Kali could see. They spread out, tall and swaying, stocky and strong, gnarled and rough. Upon them, the blooms of spring marked out pinks and yellow dotted among the green leaves. Not far away, a creek bubbled along rocks nestled in the soft grass.

This place was no stranger to Kali's mind; she had indeed been here before. It was the setting of most of her dreams, for almost all of them took place in a forest, or any other natural environment. Kali sat bewildered for a moment, before nervously standing up. "Hello?" She called out wearily.

There was no answer; she was met by silence. 

_Where am I? Am I dead? _She looked at her hands, finding them solid. _I don't think so. It's another dream then._ She decided, leaning against a tree. _Maybe so far everything has been a dream, despite the pain. Maybe you really do feel pain in dreams._ Kali grimaced as she felt her neck, noting the drying blood. _What the hell was that thing?_

Suddenly, a noise. Kali jerked her head to her left, though she scooted farther into the enveloping roots of the large tree. She heard the distinctive crackle of grass, a soft muttering voice that Kali could not remember. It was not the voice of the people in her other dreams, it was too menacing, soft and subtle. The kind of voice that manipulates with your mind; forcing you into nightmares. Kali crouched down silently into the roots, imagining herself becoming one. In the other dreams, no one had ever heard nor seen her. But this thing had come to her call, had noted her arrival. 

Perhaps it had been waiting for her the whole time.

Half-crazed thoughts of creeping fanged things shadowed the corners of her mind as she shivered slightly, trapped and frightened like the rabbit that knows the hawk is circling. Something was crawling on her hand, a tickling feeling that had been going on for the last minute that Kali had just noticed. Her eyes shifted downward as she noticed, of all things, a spider. Like many people, Kali had a strong dislike for arachnids of all shapes and sizes. But in the light of something much more terrifying approaching, it seemed rather stupid to run about like a screaming maniac trying to shake off this small intruder. Kali let it stay, and the little black creature explored the crevices of her hand, totally unaware of her quivering. It paused, and Kali had the insane idea (they were becoming common) that it felt her eyes upon it. It was posed delicately upon her clenched knuckle, the perfect picture of its kind. Instinctively, Kali tensed knowing very well what was about to happen. 

For such a tiny thing, the spider's bite sent fire throughout her hand. It had bit clean into her knuckle, spreading pain down the delicate system of nerves in her hand, racing up through her arm, to her shoulders, and dispersing into her body. Kali bit her lip as she shook her hand, sending the little thing through the air. She felt dizzy, weak, was it poison? 

Movement. Something flashed silently above her and she sprang up just as the leaves and branches began to fall. A force pushed her, making her stumble, her eyes blurring as she collided with a gnarled root. Kali desperately swept her hands over the ground, refusing to look behind her, concentrating on finding anything that would serve as a weapon. After what seemed like an eternity of scrambling and crawling on the ground, she came upon something that felt suitable. Kali could hardly see, but it felt sharp and real in her hand. The thing behind her took a harsh hiss as she moved her hand, intending to turn around and throw. 

Then the world split apart, the greens and browns of the forest swirled into black and Kali was only aware of the odd rush of wind and a horrible detached voice trying to call back its prey.

There was a hard thud as Kali crashed down against the walls of the cabin, and she winced in pain as her head crashed against the floor. She blinked at the floor in surprise, trying to figure out how a cabin could turn into a forest, and then back again. Kali stared at her left hand, noting the small white scar on her knuckle. _How did it heal so quickly? And that was no dream, was it? _She had begun to question in her mind, what was real and what was false.

However, it seemed rather unimportant with something that felt very cold and _very_ sharp resting at her neck. 

"Human, what did you just do?" 

Kali froze, her body refusing to shift upwards, to look for the source of that voice. It was like the other's voice. Cold and soft, different, but in a way that she could not distinguish. It was when the sword point forced her to look up, that Kali's memory flared alive. At first, she saw his face looking down at her. The stripes on the sides were the most familiar, but the rest of his face made his markings seem like unimportant details. His eyes, they did not belong to the finely carved face. There was something in the golden depths, something that scared her more than the claws that had almost brought her death or the sword that was yearning to do so. They held fire, pure and primal, yet controlled and held back. The simple fact of the color and the pointed irises were obvious, but it was the underlying fury that made it certain this _thing_ was certainly not human. Kali wanted to look away, knowing that it was not right for her to be able to see what was hidden there, but she could not do so. She was trapped, fear washing through every edge of her body.

There was a soft, controlled growl from the creature. "Answer me." 

Kali bit her lip, trying to collect her thoughts. "I…I…don't know. I have never done that before."

The thing…_Sesshoumaru _(the name fit and she assumed that this was him) raised an eyebrow, his sword still resting against her throat.

_That,_ Kali thought wildly (as one does when something very sharp is to close for comfort) _must have sounded very, very stupid…_

Sesshoumaru growled softly, almost undetectable, in his throat. Things were not going well for the youkai. The girl was clearly scared out of her wits (it was easy enough to smell), for anyone else would have tried to run, and she had not broken eye contact with him. It was hard to tell if this was out of disrespect or stupid human fear. However, she had not lied. Sesshoumaru would have easily detected that, and it seemed pointless to waste her weak blood on his sword. 

_What?_ Kali thought, as he sheathed his sword, where it rested against another one in his beautiful armor. _I am not dead. Rin is asleep. Rin is still here. None of this makes sense!_

"Did you watch over her?" The youkai asked, noting how her wide eyes had shifted over to the sleeping form. _Gods and youkai help me if I have to deal with _two_ little humans! _She was still stiff, although his sword was no longer near her. That was smart of her, he concluded, to know that he was dangerous without a sword. Her initial reaction to him had suggested that she did not know of his kind, which both surprised and annoyed him, but it seemed that she eventually caught on. _I must talk to the youkai lords about this._

"Yes," Kali replied. "She's been with me for several hours." _No way in hell these two are related!_ She wrapped her arms around her knees, staring back at him, waiting for an answer. For a long time there was silence, something that should have seemed very common to Kali. In this new light, it became frightening. _At least he could do is thank me!_ She mentally reeled back, surprised at herself for thinking that. All he did was look at Rin quickly for a moment, before turning back to her. Kali did not like the feeling of his eyes, the smoldering burn behind them, and the fact that he could kill her very easily. 

"Get up," he commanded softly, and she did. "Rin," Sesshoumaru called to the girl, who awoke easily (_had she been awake?_ Kali wondered) and stood between them. "Human girl," Sesshoumaru began softly. "No other human can see me, but _you_ can. _You_ disappear and then reappear without much trouble. Clearly, you are a very weak creature, everything about you reeks of human. But you are something else. What is that?" He looked down at her, and it was very disturbing to Kali that he seemed even more powerful when she was closer to him. 

"I really have no idea," she said in a cold voice as she strained to keep her fear from cracking her voice in two. It was hard trying to speak to keep eye contact, Kali was much shorter, only coming up to the spiked piece that held his armor in place. _Is that a boa…or a tail?_ _Arrghh, think about it later!_ "No one can see Rin either, and both of you can hear me talk which is really confusing because I can not talk." There was an awkward silence following this, and Kali went back to trying to debate what that furry thing on his shoulder was while trying not to look to obvious about it.

Sesshoumaru just stared back at her, trying to gather his thoughts as to what to say in reply. "So, you are a human who happens to be dumb-"

"Mute," Kali replied, immediately shocked by her interruption. _It's not surprising you don't know when to shut up, because you've never had to. DAMN! _

The glare he gave her could have foretold the apocalypse, and Kali expected to fall over dead in a manner of seconds. "Be quiet, human," he said in a deadly voice. "I'll forgive you this once because you obviously do not know of the superior youkai race, but _never_ again question the words of Sesshoumaru." His fire colored eyes were narrowed and edged with red as he looked down at her, and for the first time, she was forced to drop her gaze. Kali looked down at Rin, who had been oddly silent until now, looking up at them curiously. _Huh, a little girl knows when to keep quiet, but I don't. He said the word 'youkai' didn't he? Must mean 'bad tempered and evil guys'_ Her true nature, suppressed since the arrival of Rin, was beginning to kick in. 

"SO, you cannot talk, but are _obviously_ able to around Rin and I, not only that but you are a human who can see us, and you can disappear, but obviously you can't control it, because you would have not come back." 

__

Correction; 'bad tempered, evil, incredibly _redundant, and good at deducing._"Yes."

He just stared back at her.

"That was a rhetorical question, wasn't it?"

Same stare.

_That was one too. _"Er…right…you are correct. Sorry." _This is not the best of situations… Why can't he just go now! Rin has found him, and he can just go now. Leave my poor deranged brain out of this mess! _"Well, here is Rin, safe. I don't think there is anything else I can do for you, so I shall be leaving you to your business now." Kali took a step back, bowed (because somehow, it seemed that this creature was used to respect). It was not something she wanted to do, exposing the back of her neck to something with very sharp claws. Quicker then anyone in the cabin could think was possible; she shuffled to the door…which consequently was no longer there. She saw the slightly forested region of the park, very rare in the crowded conditions of modern Japan, and the path that was supposed to lead her down the long walk to the center of the fair. _Escape! _

_Damn._

_He_ was blocking her path. There had been a flash of white and the glimmer of armor; faster then, her eyes could track. Kali was aware of a small weight yet again anchored to her arm, Rin. "Why," she said, looking Sesshoumaru squarely in the eye, bristling somewhat. "Are you not letting me go?" 

_Humans! Damn dratted humans! I'll learn what I can from this one and then kill her! I have killed men for being more polite then this wretch of a creature! _He recalled the _thing_ (for lack of better words to call it by) in the abyss, _he needed this girl to get back home! _The irony was not lost upon him. The great youkai lord looked down at her from his much taller height, into the shadowed and murky eyes before replying. It occurred to him that he could use this creature to get back to his time (_how the hell she does it I don't care.) _and _then_ dispose of her. The thought of having to depend on another youkai made him disgusted enough, but to depend on a…a human! That was reason enough for him to consider staying in this time, non-existent for the rest of eternity. 

But Sesshoumaru had been in the middle of a very important situation in his own time, and he was not the kind of youkai who would just drop something because of a mere, if unfortunate, shift in time. _Youkai and gods alike, help me retain my sanity after I say this! _

"Because you're abnormal ability to witness the sight and comprehend a youkai, despite the fact that you are mortal, this puts you in the very complicated position of assistance to I, Sesshoumaru. You should be honored."

There was a moment of silence, and he thought he had gotten past this obstacle. 

"SO," the girl said with an odd light in her eyes. "Basically, You. Need. Me." 

_Oh hell. That did not work. _He fixed her with a stare that was known to make small creatures implode. "I don't need anyone's help, especially that of a human girl."

She blinked once, as if trying to understand the path this conversation was going. "Okay," she said slowly. "Then I will be leaving you now. Goodbye, good luck, and stay the hell out of my mind."

_What? _The youkai lord stood, bewildered as he watched her carefully disentangle herself from Rin's grasp as and make her way down the dusty path. Without looking back she lifted her arm and waved. _This girl is very stupid, very brave, or very insane. Perhaps a mixture of both._ Her attitude was confusing to him; did she not know that he could easily kill her? He wanted to _so_ much right now, to rip his claws through her turned back. No human had ever simply turned and walked away from him! _I do not need her services, _he concluded. _I can accomplish getting home on my own. But where are the other youkai, surely they must be near? But this girl, this little human, obviously has no knowledge of them._

Rin stood in the road, looking at the blank faced youkai, and to the receding form of Kali. She _had_ helped her to find Sesshoumaru-sama, and for that, she was grateful. Quietly, she scooted closer to him, standing by his side. Together, the child and the youkai stood silent in uneasy thought. 

_Don't look back. Don't look back._

Kali repeated the mantra silently in her head as she walked to the main area of the park. By that time, the fair was slowing down, and soon there would be no one here. She wasted five minutes signing and gesturing at the employee center before someone handed her a piece of paper so she could request her salary. _Cheap pay, too. At this rate, it'll take me years to get out of the house. _Made miserable by thinking about going back to her silence, Kali scuffled down to bus stop. Silently, she boarded the bus, and as she had done many hours ago, she leaned against the back seat window and drifted.

_There were many leaves falling. Red, Orange, green, odd for this time of the year. Kali stood in a very familiar clearing, a sharp memoir of the long-ago-yet-not-so-long-ago. She ducked and twisted behind a tree, remembering the episode of her last dream. _

But there was no sound, nor was there any ominous feeling. Just the noises made from the wind.

As quickly as the dream had begun, it ended. Kali sighed, contemplating that not only had the sushi been old, and it had probably been radioactive or loaded with chemicals of some sort. The bus chugged to a stop in her lonely little neighborhood, one of the many vague suburbs that dotted the mile radius around Tokyo. She walked off; her feet dragging as she made it to the desolate looking duplex that was home. Fishing a key from her backpack, Kali opened the left door and slinked down the short hallway to the kitchen/family room. _Screw the sneaking in, hell will freeze over if they care._

It was a clean, if somewhat bland, house. Fashionable furniture dotted in artful arrangements around the TV and in the soft (and to Kali's mind, uncomfortably squishy) chairs, her adoptive family sat. How Kali came to end up here, she never knew. Supposedly, as much as they had told her, one did not have to pay the high taxes that had plagued the citizens near Tokyo for the last few decades if they adopted a child, or raised some cattle. Which seemed unlikely.

The first of the five people sitting in front of her to willingly acknowledge her presence was the old man, the one that had given her the ominous name she bore. _Kali_, she thought wryly. _Destroyer. But of what?_ She had never asked.

He stood up, a crooked old man with a thick mane of scraggly gray hair that was impossible to tell its original color from, and took a comical (if slightly mocking bow). "It is the lady Kali, master of sneaking off from school and chores!" He said with a flourish. In reply, she smiled icily at him. "The school called," he said continuing. "Said you got marked off for today, but I don't think they care, seeing as vacation starts tomorrow." He sat back down, watching her with half-lidded eyes.

Of all the members of the family, from her foster parents, to their two sons, the old man always bothered her. It was his subtle gestures, and surprisingly quick movements with his wit, mind, and body that made him a threat. A veiled one at that, not unlike the old fables that told of mysterious aristocrats. But for now, he was just a passive old man, and, in Kali's mind, had always been.

Sanchi and Jouri (the seven year old twins) both ignored her, finding amusement in a game made up of flashing colors, high pitched noises, and little animals that were cute and surprisingly annoying at the same time. Their parents, whom Kali never thought as of _her_ parents, pointedly ignored her. _Good. I don't need another talk from them, telling me how I dishonor them. Sound like a bunch of old twits from generations ago. _Kali's plan of action did not involve a highly competitive school, or the highly regarded grades needed to get into one. She had received mediocre grades on her high school entrance exam, enough to put her in an average education public school. Life seemed to work a path out for her, she had decided long ago, though in her mind it seemed _boring._ The inevitable future seemed to follow the lines of graduating, getting a scholarship from her handicap (which, when thinking about money, did come in handy sometimes), learning her trade, and living a middle class life alone. Which seemed perfectly fine to Kali.

And with luck, no more little girls and imposing creatures made from her mind.

Though for all the pain, it had made the day interesting.

In an hour's time, Kali found herself in bed early, clutching a ragged and old dictionary. It could have been in use over fifty years ago, but it was a good source. First order of business was to find out the words the girl Rin had spoken, even if she had been an imagination. It had pricked through her mind, sending her through all of her dictionaries, and even some of the journals, to find nothing. As a last resort, she picked up the final book that she had carefully hidden from the intrusive children because it was so delicate. After a couple misspellings of the word "youkai," she finally had come to an entry. 

_Youkai- See also spirits and Oni- A creature of old fables, often known to be powerful, and in many cases, evil._

Oh joy.

"Hanyou" See Youkai. Another famous element of fables, hanyous were believed to be the offspring of a human and a youkai. Often they were either beautiful or disfigured, with powers beyond the abilities of many humans.

Kali blinked at this, reliving the conversation that had taken place with her and Rin hours ago.

((Author's note: Any time I underline italics, its usually means we are looking at past dialog, either from my story or from the manga.))

__

"Are you a youkai?" 

"A what?" "I'm a half-breed if that's what you mean, but it isn't that uncommon, not anymore at least. My dad had dark hair, my mom had this color hair, and her eyes were this color too, I'm a mix of both." 

"So you're a hanyou? A real half-breed?" Rin asked in wonder. 

"Yes."

_Oh crud._ Kali could not help but think how a little girl's imagination would take that. She shook her head in wonder and turned off her flashlight, sneaking the book back under her pillow. 

_Wait. Did she think I was _disfigured!?!?!

Author: Wah. Feel the insanity and the struggle to depict the elusive fluffy character correctly.

Next chapter: NEVER ever let a youkai lose in the modern world.

Oh yes, and a plot!

Please review, constructive criticism and comments welcome!

Author mistakes (wahhah, feel the masochism) 

Does Kali ever tell Rin her name?!?! I'm not sure… 

About this- I think, if its not there, that Kali told Rin in an earlier copy of one of the previous chapters, but I think I deleted it. Eeep.

Really, enlighten me, is it a boa or a tail? For the sake of this fic, it will indeed be a tail. Crud foreshadowing. 


End file.
